2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 29, 2001
a
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
I
Who: Lavell Blanchard
Hometown: Ann Arbor
Height: 6-7
Sport: Basketball
Year: Sophomore
Why: Blanchard has tallied 20 points or more in each of the past three d
games, a stretch where Michigan has finished 2-1. In the win over
Northwestern Saturday night, Blanchard finished with 21 points, nine
rebounds, and three assists. In Thursday night's loss to Illinois,
Blanchard tied a career high with 13 rebounds, and recorded his fifth
double-double of the season (14th in his career). Blanchard
MICHIGANN T13
'M' VAJrnT SCHEDULE
Tuesday. Jan. 30
Men's basketball vs. Michigan State, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 1
Women's basketball vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 2
Wrestling vs. Iowa, 7 p.m.
Women's gymnastics at Florida, vs. Auburn, 7 p.m.
Women's swimming and diving at Nebraska Invitational, 7 p.m.
Hockey at Nebraska-Omaha, 7:05 p.m.
Men's gymnastics vs. Ohio State, 7 p.m.
Men's track and field at Notre Dame Meyo Invitational
Saturday, Feb. 3
Women's swimming and diving at Nebraska Invitational, 11 a.m.
Men's basketball vs. Wisconsin, 12:17 p.m.
Men's swimming and diving at Michigan State, 1 p.m.
Wrestling vs. Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
Men's gymnastics at Penn State, 7 p.m.
Hockey at Nebraska-Omaha, 7:05 p.m.
Men's track and field at Notre Dame Meyo Invitational
Women's track and field at Central Michigan Invitational
CLUB SPFRTSWEEKLY
A n I ~
*( , r
DAILY TRIVIA
Starting today, Daily Sports is offering two pairs of
tickets to the Feb. 17 Michigan-Michigan State hock-
ey game at Joe Louis Arena.
Every day until Feb. 9, a.new trivia question will
appear in the sports section. Answers should be e-
mailed to sports.contest@umlch.edu. The tickets will
go to the two respondants that answer the most ques-
ions correctly.
Today's question (it's an easy one to get things started):
What NHL team owns the rights to Jeff Jillson?
SOUND. OFF!I
Softball snags
No. 11 ranking
in preseason
Michigan's softball team will enter
the 2001 season with a No. 11 rank-
ing in the USA Today/National
Fastpitch Coaches Association
Preseason top-25 poll.
Last season, the Wolverines (45-
16-) won the Big Ten championship
and finished second in NCAA
Region 8 - missing the College
World Series by one game.
They finished the 2000 campaign
ranked 13th nationally.
"As is the case every year, it only
matters where you finish, not where
you started," said Michigan head
coach Carol Hutchins in a released
statement. "There will be teams that
are not even receiving votes right
now that end up in the top 20 at some
point this season."
The Wolverines open the season
February 15-18 at the Campell
Cartier Classic in Pomway,
California. In its home debut,
Michigan will face Purdue in a dou-
bleheader on April 16.
fr-om staff and wire reports
USA Today/
NFCA
Preason Top 25
1. UCLA
2. Oklahoma
3. Arizona
4. Washington
5. Alabama
6. Arizona State
7. California
8. Lousiana State
9. Fresno State
10. DePaul
11. Michigan
12. Nebraska
13. Iowa
14. Cal State Fullerton
15. Stanford
16. Oregon State
17. Florida State
18. South Carolina
19. Notre Dame
20. Oregon
21. Southern Mississippi
22. Long Beach State
23. Mississippi State
24. Texas
25. Utah
Your chance to speak out on
issues in Michigan sports
Tell us what you think about the
Michigan hockey team defeating
Michigan State in overtime.
® Talk about Michigan's academic standard.
® How does the defense of the Ravens
compare to the great teams of the past?
Daily Sports wants Michigan sports feedback!
Select fanfares will be printed in
SportsMonday every week. This is your
chance to sound off!
daily. fanfare@umich.edu.
S
Por TsBRIEFS
Wannstedt not
read to commit
to Fiedler
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) - Miami coach
Dave Wannstedt might be thinking of
giving Jay Fiedler some competition
next season as the Dolphins' starting
quarterback.
Fiedler led the Dolphins to a wild-
card victory against the Indianapolis
Colts in the postseason before being
eliminated by the Oakland Raiders the
next week.
While Wannstedt is confident
Fiedler can improve in 2001, the
Dolphins' coach refused to call off a
search for a new signal-caller, possibly
former Washington Redskin Brad
Johnson.
"Do I believe we can win with Jay
Fielder? Yes," Wannstedt told the
Miami Herald.
"Do I believe he'll be better next
year? Yes. But we want to improve the
position. If there's anyone out there we
think can help us, we'll look at him ...
But there are not a lot of great quar-
terbacks in this league. It's not that
easy."
Sixers win 13th
straight on road
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
Philadelphia played like it was at
lioie in Indiana - just as it has
everywhere it's traveled for nearly two
months.
Allen Iverson scored 27 points,
ipcluding 16 in the fourth quarter, and
fed the 76ers to their 13th-straight
toad victory, an 86-81 come-from-
behind win over the Pacers.
"I've lost games for years since I
left," said 76ers coach Larry Brown, a
former Pacers coach: "And we've
started to win now."
Philadelphia isn't just winning in
Indianapolis, though.
The victory Sunday gave the 76ers
the fifth-longest road winning streak
in NBA history, matching the Boston
Celtics of 1964-65 and the Chicago
Bulls of 1995-97, who needed two
seasons to accomplish the feat.
Maclnnis. to be
absent from
All-Star game
ST. LOUIS (AP) St. Louis
Blues defenseman AlMacInnis will
miss the NHL All-Star game after
sustaining an eye injury in a game
against San Jose.
MacInnis was examined yesterday
by a doctor, who determined he has
an eyelid laceration, a corneal abra-
sion and blood in the eye chamber.
Maclnnis left Saturday's game in
the third period after taking a high
stick from San Jose's Scott Hannan.
MacInnis received stitches to his left
eyelid and did not return.
The 37-year-old Macinnis, who
was to play in his 12th NHL All-Star
game on Feb. 4, will miss the Blues'
next three games and will be evaluat-
ed on a daily basis.
The loss of MacInnis is another
blow to the Blues. Defenseman and
captain Chris Pronger is out for at
least another month after having knee
surgery. Forward Reed Low is day to
day with a thumb injury.
The injury list also includes Jochen
Hecht (pulled oblique muscle), Brent
Johnson (sore knee), Lubos Bartecko
(high ankle sprain), Michal Handzus
(abdominal injury), Pavol Demitra
(eye injury) and Sean Hill (abdomi-
nal strain).
Table tennis:
Just don't call
it ping pong
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan senior Ashoo Jain loves his
sport -just don't call it ping pong.
"I used to get insulted," Jain said of
people erroneously calling table tennis
by it's slang term, "But not anymore.
I've overcome it."
Ok, maybe he's loosened his concern
with the name, but Jain is dead serious
about his sport. In December, he won
the U.S. Under-22 National
Tournament in Las Vegas.
He now has a rank of 2,445th, good
enough for third in the country among
under 22-year olds.
"I made No. I for both under-16 and
under-18 before, so now my goal is to
be No. 1 in under-22," Jain said. "The
higher your rating the better. When you
beat someone (at a tournament),
depending on their rating, you gain (or
lose) anywhere from one to 50 points."
Jain, who attends about five-to-six
major tournaments a year and about 10
smaller ones, also won the National
College Championships in April.
Now Jain wants to focus on winning
a spot on the national team so he can
compete in the World Championships
in San Diego Feb. 7-11.
"From what I have heard, I am top-
10 seed in the tournament," Jain said.
"The top five people make the team."
If all goes well, he can then set his
sights on the 2004 Olympics.
"I gave it a thought for the 2000
Olympic tryouts," Jain said. "But I was-
n't a U.S. citizen so I was not allowed to
compete."
Last July, the India-born Jain
acquired his U.S. citizenship, giving
him the opportunity to shoot for
American gold.
Jain started playing table tennis
when he was 10, but didn't get serious-
lv into it until taking lessons from past
Olympians David Zhuang and Lily Yip
at a club in New Jersey.
"I played all sports actually, but none
entertained me like this one," Jain said.
"Its very complex, and there are always
surprises"
Illinois 55
Michigan 51
Oh Mr. Groninger, where have you
gone? When you came to this school
last year, you had loads of promise to
become a serious 3-point threat, some-
thing our basketball team needs very
badly.
I have one piece of advice for you,
watch five minutes of tape from the
courtesy of Ashoo Jain
Upon winning a spot on the table tennis
national team, Michigan senior Ashoo
Jain could enter the 2004 Olympics.
Jain believes that most people laugh-
ingly pass off his sport for just a recre-
ational activity in the basement or one
of those wacky Forrest Gump accom-
liishments.
"Believe it or not but you have to be
in great physical shape to be very good
in this game," Jain said. "The ball
approaches or sometimes even crosses
100 miles per hour and 7200 rpm."
But that's the easy part.
"You have 10-15 feet to cover, with-
in a second of time," Jain said. "To get
to the ball isn't that hard either. It's all
the spin that the person (puts on the
ball).
"You have to get behind the ball, and
counter the spin with a full stroke. And
for that, you need to be in really good
position all in one second"
Is that intense enough'?
"Actually that's the first remark that
people say, when they haven't seen
table tennis before: Wow, I didn't real-
ize it was so intense!"' Jain said. "Hey,
it's the second most-popular sport in
the world outside of soccer, so there's
something behind the sport."
Jain also holds position as the presi-
dent of the Michigan Table Tennis
Club, which meets three times a week
and has about 35 members. Jain
encourages new members to join and it
even provides some fun exercise.
"I go throug'h three or four shirts full
of sweat from playing a couple of
hours, so its a good workout," Jain said.
FROM THE WIRE
Special instant replay spices up
Super Bowl coverage on CBS
NEW YORK (AP) - This was not
your father's Super Bowl telecast.
From the six hours of pregame
hoopla, to the MTV influences and ref-
erences, to the often spectacular debut of
rotating replays, CBS Sports' first Super
Bowl broadcast in nine years was decid-
edly a nod to the video generation.
And CBS certainly has a winner in
"EyeVision," the instant replay system
that-seems inspired by arcade games.
Announcers Greg Gumbel and Phil
Simms were solid when they weren't
shilling for the network, and the report-
ing, graphics and other production ele-
ments were also fine.
But "EyeVision" was the true TV star
during the Baltimore Ravens' 34-7 vic-
tory yesterday over the New York Giants
in Tampa, Fla.
The system employed 30 digital cam-
eras that synchronized to focus on a par-
ticular player, showing views that spun
about 270 degrees. Think of the action
scenes in "The Matrik."
CBS used its new toy about twice per,
quarter, and it was most impressive on
two second-half plays.
The TV audience was shown three dif-
ferent points of view during Jermaine
Lewis' 84-yard kickoff return for a
Baltimore touchdown. Then, on the
game's final TD, "EyeVision" was used
to demonstrate that Ravens running back
Jamal Lewis did indeed have the ball
across the goal line before fumbling.
It's the kind of breakthrough that could
end living room arguments consisting of
"It was a touchdown!" and "No it wasn't!"
Fittingly, CBS was the first network to
use what could soon be known as "plain
old" instant replay - employing it once
during the telecast of the Army-Navy
game on Dec. 7, 1963. When Army
quarterback Rollie Stichweh scored on a
short run, viewers saw the play again
seconds later.
"This is not live!" announcer Lindsey
Nelson screamed. "Ladies and gentle-
men, Army did not score again"
Simms and Gumbel, of course, did
not have to make any such assurances
for what were expected to be upward of
120 million people tuning in to at least;:
part of the game.
And since CBS was hoping a sizable
segment would stick with the network
for the premiere of "Survivor 11" after
the game, the production wound up hav-
ing the feel of a setup for that show.
The low points of the broadcast
included a shot of last year's "Survivor'
winner Richard Hatch in the stands at@
Raymond James Stadium, Simms
imploring viewers, "You gotta keep
watching to see 'Survivor,"' and that
program's music and logo accompany-
ing a graphic about Ravens' opponents'
offensive statistics in previous games.
Oh, and then there was the juncture
when Simms and Gumbel chatted dur-
ing game action about their upcoming
guest appearance on a network sitcom.
On the other hand, when they stuck to@
the game, they were quite good. Gumbel
-- who made a tittle history as the first
black play-by-play announcer to work a
Super bowl telecast - didn't miss a
call, while Simms - the third man in
the booth for NBC at the 1996 and 1998
Super Bowls -- provided his customary
clear explanations.
Their give-and-take was almost uni-
formly smooth.
This was respite from the overdone
pregame programming - the six hours*
were nearly twice as long as the game
itself took, and 50 percent more than
ABC's pregame last year - was wel-
comed. Except, perhaps, the "battle of
the bands" halftime show produced by
MTV, CBS's Viacom sibling.
JEFF HURVITZ/Daily
DAILY FANFARE
Illinois game. Watch how Sean
Harrington ran around to get open.
Maybe the problem is in the design of
the plays. but I have never seen any
Michigan player run that hard. If you
would follow this lead, I am confident
you will find yourself facing many'
more opportunities to hit open threes,,
and give this team the extra boost it
needs from you
Reid Wainess
LSA Junior
On top of the world
~:a
DAILY SCREBOARD
a
w
NBA STANDINGS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
NHL STANDINGS
COME LEARN ABOUT DAILY SPORTS AT OUR
MEETING ON WEDNESDAY AND NEXT
MONDAY. BOTH MEETINGS START AT 7 P.M.
DAILY SPORTS - WHAT ELSE ARE
YOU DOING THAT'S ANY BETTER?
Atlantic Division
WL
Philadelphia 33
New York 25
Miami 27
Orlando 19
Boston 17
New Jersey 14
Washington 11
central Division
Milwaukee 26.
Charlotte 24
Toronto 23
Cleveland 20:
Indiana 20:
Detroit 16
Atlanta 15
Chicago 6
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Midwest Division
L
10
16
18
23
26
l31
34
Pct GB
.767 -
.610 7
600 7
.452 13.5
.395 16
.311 20
.244 23
EASTERN CONFERENC
Atlantic Division
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
NY Rangers
NY islanders
Northeast Division
*Ottawa
Toronto
Buffalo
Boston
Montreal
Southeast Division
Washington
Carolina
Atlanta
Florida
Tampa Bay
W
26
25
24
20
13
W
29
24
25
21
16
W
22
21
15
11
13
L Pct GB
16 .619 -
21 .533 3.5
21 .523 4
21 .488 5.5
22 .476 6
28 .364 11
.27 .357 11
37,.140 20.5
AP PHOTO
Baltimore's Brian Billick was once noted for his offensive genius, but won a Super
Bowl with his stifling defense. New York's only points came on special teams.
L T
12 9
15 9
186
27 3
30 5
L T
13 6
16 7
18 5
19 6
27 5
L T
19
19 6
249 9
26 8
29 5
LT
104
15 4
24 7
234
26 4
8 8
17 4
21 8
103
1~2 3
RT
2
1
2
1
2
RTPts GF GA
1 65 165 122
4 59 150 123
1 56 125 110
5 53 128 149'
3 40 126 14f"
Pts
63
60
56
44
33
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Divitsion
RT
1
2
2
7
3
RT
2
4
2
2
3
GF GA
172 120
147 136
159 151
159 179
115 i.60
Pts GF GA
53 133 128
50 124 133.
41 134 169
37 111 157
34 121 174
Pts GF GA
72169 105
66 151 134'
49 121 139.~
46 131 139
41 112 149
W L Pct GB
V
x.
The Department of Communication Studies
presents a lecture by
Professor Michael Bromley
2000-2001 Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor
E
G ROUND
1432 Washtenaw Ave.
Frproa ,rm
I.The center or origin of rapid, intense
activity or change...
2.A college Ministry program involving
discussion, connection with other
students and drinking coffee.
Utah
San Antonio
Dallas
Minnesota
Denver
H oust on
Vancouver
Pacific Division
Sacramento
Portland
LA Lakers
Phoenix
Seattle
Golden State
LA Clippers
27 15.
26 15.
28 18.
27 18
26 18.
18 18.
11 25
W L
29 11.
32 14
27 14.
24 18.
26 21
14 29
13 31
643
.634
.609
.600
.591
.500
.256
.5
1
1.5
3
6
16.5
Detroit
Nashville
Chicago
Columbus
Northwest Division
Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver
Calgary
Minnesota
Pacific livis'o"
San Jose
Dallas
Phoenix
Los Angeles
Anaheim
33
29
20
20
17
w
34
26
23
5
5
w
29
28
23
22
:5
RT Pts
1 77
4 60
1 55
3 16
1 14
GF GA
167 1110
165 148
138 144
4? 61
44 59
Pct GB
.707 -
.696 .5
.659 2
.571 5.5
.553 6
.326 16
.295 17.5
i
L T, RT Pts GF GA
13 8 0 66 145 113
174 1 61 138 115
14 121 59 129 116
207 1 52 163 154,
286 4 40 123 165
'The Nl-
I
ii
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